A study of redox, and other relevant physical properties of a new class of nitroaromatic compounds, i.e., the benzazolo[3,2-a]quinolinium salt derivatives (QSDs), will be performed in order to understand the cytotoxic mechanisms of these compounds. Due to the presence of nitrosubstituents in these compounds and their affinity for DNA, the possibility of a preferred reactivity of these compounds toward DNA and proteins under anoxia will be examined since this could lead to a new series of compounds which could serve as hypoxia-specific cytotoxins or antitumor agents. For this purpose, possible DNA damaging and protein thiol consumption reactions by QSDs will be tested in the absence and presence of air and in the absence and presence reducing agents. Correlations will be sought between the QSDs reactivities detected in this work and anoxic or aerobic cytotoxicities. These reactivities will be compared to those of well known hypoxic-specific toxic compounds.